Abigail STANLEY

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Dau. of Timothy and Elizabeth Stanley of Hartford, Conn.

Abigail married Samuel COWLES on 14 Jan 1660/1. Samuel (son of John COWLES and Hannah ?) was born in 1639 in prob. Hartford, Connecticut; died on 17 Apr 1691 in Farmington, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
He resided on the southerly side of the old homestead at Farmington; removed to Kensington, 1716; was Deacon of the church there. He inherited the Pitkin place in Farmington subsequently known as the Dr. Carrington place, which he gave to his son, Thomas. He is said to have been a rather small size, spare, brown eyes, light hair, reserved in conversation, steady in mind, of mild disposition, not easily provoked.

Samuel married Rachel PORTER on 17 Nov 1685. Rachel (daughter of Deacon Thomas PORTER and Sarah HART) was christened on 26 Dec 1658; died on 4 Oct 1743. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abigail married Thomas PORTER in May 1678. Thomas was born on 29 Oct 1650; died on 19 Dec 1718. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hannah married Hekeziah PORTER on 20 May 1686. Hekeziah (son of Samuel PORTER and Hannah STANLEY) was born on 07 Jan 1665 in Windsor, Hartford Co., Connecticut; died on 03 Jan 1752 in East Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Timothy m. January 1, 1689/90, Hannah, born 1666 or 1667' d. 1737; daughter of Hon. William and Hannah (Goodwin) Pitkin of East Hartford, Conn. Hannah Goodwin was daughter of Ozias Goodwin, one of the first settlers in East Hartford. Hon. William Pitkin was one of the original settlers and large landholders in East Hartford; principal attorney of the colony; treasurer 1676; assistant 1690, until his death Dec. 16, 1694. His grandson, William Pitkin, son of William and Elizabeth (Stanley) Pitkin, was a great grandson of John Cowles. he was judge of the Superior Court; Deputy or Lieutenant Governor, 1754-1766, and governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1766-1769, the date of his death. After his marriage Timothy Cowles removed to East Hartford, where he first appears in the records in 1695. He owned a three mile lot east and west from the conn. River easterly, part of which was taken in the highway laid out from Richard Gilman's north of Gilman's Brook easterly in 1734. He lived jut south of Gilman's Brook on the East side of Main street before 1700, on the site occupied in 1879 by Mr. I. Carney.

On Dec. 27, 1687 the town of Farmington granted to Timothy Cowles a four-acre lot, lying on the south side of Samuel Cowles senior's four acre lot "provided that he do come and inhabit in the town," from which it appears that he was not then a resident of Farmington.

He was a collector of the 3rd Ecclesiastical Society of Hartford in 1701, and deacon in 1718. Chosen at a Town Meeting, Hartford, Dec. 25, 1701, surveyor for the East Side; Dec. 17, 1706, constable for the year ensuing; constable, Dec. 18, 1711; grand jury man, Dec. 15, 1713; selectman, Dec. 18, 1716, for the year ensuing. In his will on file in the State Library at Hartford, dated march 31, 1728, his wife is not mentioned, indicating that she was not then living. They were admitted to full communion in the First Church at Hartford, Aug. 11, 1695.

Timothy married Hannah PITKIN on 1 Jan 1689/90. Hannah (daughter of William PITKIN and Hannah GOODWIN) was born in 1666; died in 1737. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married Stephen HART on 18 Dec 1689. Stephen (son of Stephen HART and ? UNKNOWN) was born on 28 Feb 1662 in Farmington, Connecticut; died on 18 Aug 1733. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Experience CHAPPELL. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nathaniel married Phebe WOODRUFF on 11 Feb 1696/7. Phebe was born in 1676 in Farmington, Connecticut; died on 4 Feb 1711/2 in Farmington, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nathaniel married Mary ANDREWS on 26 Feb 1713. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Capt. Isaac Cowles lived in Farmington, on the north part of William Porter's house lot, being the southwest corner of William Whitman's lot, about 1850. He was appointed ensign, May 1717, lieutenant, May 1723, and Captain, May 1731, of the Second Company, or Trainband, in Farmington; he was clerk of the Company in 1714; collector of the minister's rate, 1698-1700; constable several years; representative in 1726, and often held important town offices. He was a man of great energy and enterprise and became an extensive landman of great energy and enterprise and became an extensive landholder. He was a tailor by trade. Will dated Oct. 20, 1740. Proved at Hartford, Ct., march 2, 1756. In 1763 the last five sons divided the estate amount themselves as sole heirs, amounting to about 2,500 pounds.

Isaac married Mary ANDREWS on 2 Jan 1694. Mary (daughter of Daniel ANDREWS and Mary PECK) was born on 9 Dec 1674; died on 19 Jul 1708. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isaac married Sarah ANDREWS on 1 Nov 1709. Sarah was born on 27 Oct 1676; died on 14 Jun 1715. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isaac married Elizabeth SMITH on 27 Dec 1715/6. Elizabeth was christened on 16 Feb 1689/90 in Farmington, Connecticut; died on 16 Aug 1767. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Joseph Cole

Notes:

Name:
The graves of Joseph Cowles and his wife, Mindwell, are marked by stones in the Old Meeting House hIll Cemetery, Meriden. upon a monument in the Cemetery are the following inscriptions: "Erected by the Town of Meriden, 1857, in memory of the first settlers of the Town of Meriden who were buried within and near the enclosure, ad whose names are inscribed on this monument. The Meeting House in which they worshipped, and the first erected in the town, stood about fifty rods west of this monument." Among others the following names appear: Joseph Cowles, Nov. 30, 1760, aged 83; Mindwell Cowles, April 17, 1770, aged 89.

The following extract if taken from "A Century of Meriden, : published in 1906:

"The first of the Cowles family to live in Meriden was Joseph who came from Farmington and married Abigail, daughter of Samuel Royce on July 13, 1699. His father-in-law gave him a farm just south of Archer's corner in South Farms district, and in the year 1701, 107 acres up the hill on the old highway down which we fancy the good parson (Hall) descending after stopping, perhaps, to chat with some of the Cowles family, who were always prominent in church matters. It is difficult to believe that on the summit of this hill, called Ox Hill, there was once a colony of Cowleses and also Rices, for as far as the writer can discover, there is not the least remnant of the depression of a cellar to mark the site of a house anywhere in the vicinity, but there is no doubt that here they lived for several generations."

Mr Cowles was a weaver by trade, one of the leading citizens of the ton, and a deacon of the church.

Joseph married Abigail ROYCE on 13 Jul 1699 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Abigail (daughter of Ensign Samuel ROYCE, Sr. and Hannah CHURCHILL) was born on 24 Nov 1677 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; died on 24 May 1714 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph married Anna PECK on 01 Apr 1715 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Anna was born in Mar 1686; died on 26 Feb 1716. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph married Mindwell ? on 29 May 1717 in Wallingford, Connecticut. Mindwell was born about 1681; died on 17 Apr 1770. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Dr Thomas THOMSON on 15 Jan 1706/7. Thomas (son of John THOMSON and Mary STEELE) was born on 30 Jun 1674; died on 17 Jul 1748. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Caleb Cowles settled in Kensington, Conn., and was one of the members of the new Second Church Society of Farmington, at "Great Swamp," Kensington Parish, and a pillar and deacon of the church established there Dec. 10, 1712, on Christian Lane, just south of the Middletown railroad, the site of which is marked by a monument erected by the Daughters of the American revolution. The ancient cemetery is on Christian lane, a few rods north of the railroad,, but the Cowles graves, if any, are unmarked. However, a large granite boulder placed there by the D.A.R. bears the name of Cowles with those of the other original settlers.

Caleb Cowles, together with his bothers, Samuel and Isaac and other persons, signed a petition to the General Assembly, Oct. 11, 1705, requesting a settlement of an Ecclesiastical Society at a place called the "Great Swamp" on account of the inconvenience of attending services at Farmington about six miles distant, indicating that they all then resided there, though this is not of record.

Administration on the estate of Caleb Cowles of Kensington, was granted by the Probate Court at Hartford, Conn., jan. 4, 1725/6, to his widow, Abigail Cowles, Inventory: L529-17-1.

The inventory of her estate amounting to L49-12-9 was taken Nov. 25, 1736.

Caleb married Abigail WOODFORD on 8 Aug 1710. Abigail (daughter of Joseph WOODFORD and Rebecca NEWELL) was born in 1685 in Avon, Connecticut; was christened on 27 Dec 1685; died in 1736. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
In May 1741, Mr. Samuel Cowles was confirmed "to be Captain of the first company or trainband at the Parish of Kensington in the town of Farmington"

He probably never served in the General Assembly.

Samuel married Sarah WADSWORTH on 28 Nov 1716. Sarah (daughter of Deacon John WADSWORTH and Elizabeth STANLEY) was born on 3 Jun 1697; was christened on 4 Jun 1697; died on 14 Sep 1786. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Samuel Cowles of Kensington

Esther/Hester married Thomas STANLEY on 2 Jan 1718. Thomas (son of Thomas STANLEY and Anna PECK) was born on 31 Oct 1696 in Farmington, Connecticut; died on 13 Oct 1755. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Timothy married Mary PITKIN on 14 Jun 1716 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Mary (daughter of Roger PITKIN and Hannah STANLEY) was born on 30 Dec 1689 in Hartford, Hartford County,Connecticut; died in 1725. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Timothy married Hannah GOODWIN after 1725. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Mabel PITKIN on 07 Jul 1720 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Mabel (daughter of Roger PITKIN and Hannah STANLEY) was born on 23 Mar 1700 in Hartford, Hartford County,Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Mr. Cowles lived in East Hartford, became a deacon of the First Congregational Church in 1752 and member of the church council in 1763 (1st Cong. Ch., E.H., 1702-1902). In May 1739, the General Assembly, in consideration of the memorial of William Cowles, freed and released him for the future, from paying any rates or taxes on his head:
Hi will dated Oct. 12, 1770, was probated at Hartford, June 4, 1771 and is on file in State Library.

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth HUBBARD. Elizabeth (daughter of Daniel HUBBARD and Esther RICE) was born on 05 Apr 1695 in Hadley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts; died on 24 Mar 1779. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Timothy Cowles and Hannah Pitkin of East Hartford

Hannah married Deacon John HUBBARD in 1718 in E. Hartford, Connecticut. John (son of Isaac HUBBARD and Anne WARNER) was born on 20 Apr 1693 in Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts; died on 25 Aug 1778 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA; was buried in The Hill Cemetery, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Joseph Cowles resided in East Hartford. He was collector for the Ecclesiastical Society in 1728 and deputy sheriff of Hartford County in 1725. His will, dated Aug. 14, 1770, was probated at Hartford, Conn., March 18, 1775; left lands in East Hartford and new Hartford.

Family/Spouse: Mary GOODWIN. Mary (daughter of Deacon John GOODWIN and Sarah ?) was christened on 18 Jan 1701/2; died after 14 Aug 1770. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Thaddeus WELLES in Jan 1725 in East Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut. Thaddeus (son of Samuel WELLES and Ruth RICE) was born on 27 Mar 1695 in Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut; died on 22 Dec 1781 in Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
He removed from Meriden to Cheshire, thence to Torrington, Conn., before 1753, as his daughter Abigail was baptized there Jan. 17, 1753; and from there to Norfolk, Conn., prior to Apr. 12, 1772. He and his wife Martha were received into the church at Norfolk, April 12, 1772.

In his will, dated Norfolk, Conn., Apr. 19, 1781, probated Feb. 11, 1799, he mentions wife Elizabeth, sons Samuel, Amasa and Adna; daughters Mindwell, Martha, Eunice, Jerusha, Abigail; and son-in-law Thomas Coe. Inventory of estate $951.25. In the Court record he is referred to as late of New Hartford, and the inventory is dated New Hartford, Conn., Feb. 14, 1799. Perhaps he went there to live after his second marriage and die there.

Samuel married Martha BROOKS on 25 Sep 1734. Martha was born on 21 Feb 1714; died on 27 Sep 1778. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Elizabeth MARSH on 7 Apr 1779. Elizabeth died on 25 Apr 1799. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
He was a shoemaker by trade. His house was opposite the home of his father, in the north part of Stanley street, on the east side of the road, subsequently occupied by his son Oliver. he was elected deacon in 1795. Late in life he was somewhat deaf, and stood in the pulpit the better to hear. His hair was then white, and he used an ear trumpet. his habits were strictly puritanical; he was a careful observer of holy time his wife shaving his face invariably on Saturday afternoon, when all preparations were made for the Sabbath. He lived to the great age of nearly ninety years, dying April 28, 1817.

Timothy married Lydia NEWELL on 5 May 1757. Lydia was born about 1737; died on 17 Dec 1826. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Thomas Stanley and Esther Cowles

Notes:

Name:
He was a large farmer, and by his ability and address ultimately became one of the leading men of the town. He united with the church in 1768, and was, with one exception, the wealthiest member of the parish. On the tax-roll of the society for 1772, containing one hundred and twelve names, his list is set at L172.05.0., which is only five shillings less than that of Nathan Booth, whose list was L172.10.0.

Mr. Stanley early became interested in military affairs, and was made captain of the militia. He warmly espoused the cause of the colonies in their resistance to the oppressions of the mother country. We find the record of a town meeting of Farmington, held June 15, 1774, on the arrival of the news that the port of Boston had been closed by the British Parliament, when it was voted to assist in rendering help to that unfortunate city, and Gad Stanley, with others, was chosen a committee to take in subscriptions of wheat, corn, provisions, etc., for that purpose. In December of the same year the town voted their approval of the Articles of Association adopted by the continental Congress, pledging the friends of the colonies not to purchase goods import3ed from England, and appointed Gad Stanley and Noah Stanley, and others, "a committee of inspection to transact all those matters that belong to them according to ye true sense and design of ye Congress in sd. Articles expressed." he was also one of a committee to prepare a general Plan of Agreement as to the manner in which these measures of non intercourse should be carried into effect.

it was further voted that Gad Stanley and others should be a committee "to repair to New Cambridge and there to answer with Persons suspected to be unsound in their political sentiments, or such of them as shall see cause to attend on sd. committee to reclaim in a peaceful way to a sense of duty as far as lies in their power." The object of this inquisition was to ascertain who were unfriendly to the cause of the colonies, and take measures to remove or silence them. It was a rigid proceeding, savoring little of liberality, but judged to be necessary at a time when the very existence of the liberties regarded as inalienable to every British subject, was threatened.

Next year, march 15, 1775, we find Gad Stanley chosen one of a committee "to give licenses for the use of Tea to such persons within their respective societies as shall appear to the whole to each society belonging that are here particularly named to be under absolutely necessity for the same," which means that though it was unpatriotic for the well and strong to drink tea, yet it might be necessary for the infirm and aged, in which cases, upon permission of the committee, it might be allowed without a compromise of principle or character. Various proceedings before this committee are recorded, trying persons for the unlicensed use of tea, laboring on Fast Day, and other offenses against what was deemed required by patriotism and morality in that critical condition of the colonies.

When the war actually broke out, Captain Stanley was prompt in resorting to arms. Just at that time two British vessels appeared off New London, and an express was sent into the country to convey the alarming intelligence. He arrived in New Britain on the Sabbath, just before the close of the afternoon service. As soon as the blessing was pronounced, Captain Stanley stepped forward, and with a loud voice gave notice to his company to appear on parade before the meeting-house door the next morning. The spirit thus manifested grieved the heart of the good clergyman, who, as a lover of law and order, had the sentiment of loyalty to his sovereign warm in his heart. "What," he exclaimed,"will you fight against your king?" "Yes," replied one of the sergeants, "and I would kill him as quick as I would a black snake, if I could catch him." The ill-timed expostulation of Doctor S. awakened no small resentment in the inflamed minds of the patriots, and but for the intervention of Colonel Lee, whose influence was great, it might have been serious for the clergyman.

Captain Stanley was present in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. It was a disastrous day for the American troops, all of whom were raw recruits, while their enemy were the disciplined troops of England and Germany. Captain Stanley maintained his position as long as it was possible, and at last, when the retreat was ordered, succeeded, by a masterly maneuver, in leading off his regiment safely past the British forces. he was subsequently made a colonel, and ever after retained that title.

During this summer, his fifth child, a son, was born. The joyful news was reported to the absent father, with the request that he would say what his name should be. In due tie the answer was sent:

"If he turn out a likely lad,
It might be well to call him Gad."

After the war, Colonel Stanley served in nearly every important office in the town. He was a representative from Farmington from 1778 to 1782; and from Berlin from 1785 to 1804, continuously. His name was associated with Colonel Lee and others in school and parish affairs, in securing the incorporation of Berlin as a distinct town, in attending to highways and the town expenses generally. He was chairman of the committee chosen to call and settle Rev. Newton Skinner, as a colleague of Doctor Smalley, and received him into his family for some months as a boarder. He was an active member of the church, though church-membership then did not imply all that it now does. It is stated, for instance, that under Doctor Smalley's ministry, only two laymen, Colonel Lee and Ensign Mather, were ever heard to pray in public. He was interested in the welfare of the schools, and the records show that his daughters, with those of Doctor Smalley, Deacon Noah Stanley, and others, were teachers in the district schools during the summers.

Gad Stanley married, October 29, 1767, Mary Judd, daughter of John and Mary (Burnham)Judd, granddaughter of Rev. William Burnham, of Kensington, a "lady well born and bred," descended from Wolcotts and the Appletons, who were reputed to be of the bluest blood of the colonies. He died January 10, 1815, aged seventy-nine and his wife, January 8, 181, aged seventy.

Gad married Mary JUDD on 29 Oct 1767 in Farmington, Connecticut. Mary (daughter of Lieut. John JUDD and Mary BURNHAM) was born on 31 Aug 1748; died on 8 Jan 1818 in New Britain, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of William Cowles

Esther married Roger PITKIN in 1753. Roger (son of Roger PITKIN and Hannah STANLEY) was born on 29 Oct 1703 in Hartford, Hartford County,Connecticut; died on 08 Apr 1759. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleazer COWLES. Eleazer (son of Joseph COWLES and Mary GOODWIN) was born in 1728 in East Hartford, Connecticut; died on 19 Mar 1801. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Capt Joseph WARNER on 19 Jun 1738 in Hatfield, Massachuetts. Joseph (son of Daniel WARNER and Mary HUBBARD) was born on 18 Jan 1710 in Hatfield, Massachusetts; died on 20 Apr 1794 in Cummington, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military Service: Soldier in the French and Indian Wars

Family/Spouse: Lucy STEARNS. Lucy was born on 06 Oct 1727; died on 07 May 1816; was buried in The Hill Cemetery, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
He was "greatly lamented," Yale 1747, settled May 30, 1750, as a Baptist minister in Northfield, Mass., and preached there 45 years. Though a stanch patriot be continued to pray for the health and wealth of King George until he retired from the ministry in 1784.

John married Anne HUNT on 26 Dec 1753. Anne died on 11 Mar 1794. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Eleazer Cowles resided at East Hartford, Conn.; served 16 days in Capt. Wadsworth's company from Farmington in the campaign of 1757, French and Indian War. He was collector for the Ecclesiastical Society in 1758. His will dated march 17, 1801 and proved April 6, 1801, at Hartford, Conn., and is on file, State Library.

Family/Spouse: Ruth COWLES. Ruth (daughter of William COWLES and Elizabeth HUBBARD) was born on 14 Aug 1732 in East Hartford, Connecticut; died on 6 Apr 1792. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Son of Joseph Cowles

Notes:

Name:
By the terms of an agreement made April 1, 1776, by his father's heirs, Elisha Cowles received "one piece of land lying in Hartland, in the county of Litchfield, Conn. o the West Mountain, in said Hartland...that is to say the one moity of said lot is bounded west on Colebrook line and north on land of William Cowles all of which is to Elisha Cowles."

During the Revolutionary War he served from Hartford in the Connecticut Line, but there is not record of dates (Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll. Vol.12). Pay was due him for nine half-days training in the trainband at East Hartford under col. George Pitkin, from Oct. 1774 to May 1, 1775, 5 shillings, 6 pence. (MS. Rev. War, Vol. 2, A. 65 d. State Library, Hartford)

He made his will at Hartland, Aug. 3, 1786, which is the first record of him there. He died soon afterwards. His will was proved Jan. 2, 1787 and is on file in State Library, Hartford. Inventory L390-7-4; gives to wife Thankful Cowles and others and to his child if it survive after his death; mentions land in Hartland and East Hartford. His widow joined the church at Hartland, Aug. 26, 1787. She married (2) Dec 20, 1804, Gideon Perkins of Barkhamsted, Conn., whose wife Sarah died Feb. 1, 1804, No children by second marriage.

Family/Spouse: Thankful PITKIN. Thankful (daughter of Nathaniel PITKIN and Thankful PORTER) was born on 17 Dec 1758. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abigail married Eden or Joseph MILLS on 18 Oct 1775. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abigail married Miles RIGGS on 20 Apr 1779 in Norfolk, Connecticut. Miles (son of Miles RIGGS and Elizabeth WHITNEY) was born on 20 May 1748 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA; died on 20 Sep 1836 in Norfolk, Connecticut; was buried in South End Cemetery, Norfolk, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]